Last of Us multiplayer axed: Naughty Dog's solo focus

Naughty Dog has announced the cancellation of the much-anticipated The Last of Us multiplayer game, previously in pre-production, to maintain its dedication to producing single-player narrative games. This decision stems from the studio's desire to avoid shifting their focus to a live-service model which would have required significant ongoing support and resources post-launch, potentially detracting from future single-player projects. Despite disappointment for fans, particularly those in the The Last of Us Factions community, there is a silver lining as Naughty Dog teases multiple ambitious single-player games currently in development. Meanwhile, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is set to launch with new features on January 19, promising to deliver updated experiences for fans of the series.

Naughty Dog cancelled The Last of Us multiplayer project because supporting it as a live service would have diverted significant studio resources, impacting their ability to focus on and develop future single-player narrative games, which are core to the studio's heritage.